Applying CM during church sermon?

Our family service (first hour of church) is broken up a bit differently than some may be. It runs like this:

• Song
• Prayer
• Annoucements
• Song
• Sacrament
• Speaker 1 (a youth speaker, sharing their testimony)
• Speaker 2
• Song
• Speaker 3 (sometimes there are just 2 speakers and none are youth)
• Song
• Prayer

For our children, the first half (through the end of partaking of the sacrament) is done without distractions –  no paper/pen/crayons for the 10 kids age 1-17. This is the most reverent time, kids are encouraged to sing the songs, listen to prayers, etc.

Once we reach the first speaker the kids can choose to have paper and something to draw/write with. They still sit reverently, no talking, no play. They doodle, take notes, listen to the speakers, sing the songs, etc. Or just sit quietly and snuggle up to mom/dad/older sibling.

The second hour everyone goes to class with their own age.

Our tradition is to ask for kids to share things they did/learned/thought/heard during church over lunch and dinner (oral narration). Everyone, including mom and dad, take turns. We’ve done it since each was tiny. It works well.

Is our pew always quiet and reverent? Ha! No. We’ve had babies and toddlers and preschoolers for almost 18 years in a row now. We simply are consistent in our expectations. If a young child is a distraction they are removed from the chapel and sit on a parent’s lap in a dark classroom to listen to the service (a built in speaker in most classrooms allow us to turn it on and listen). The keys to this: going out is NOT fun. They don’t get to walk, play, sit on their own, have paper and crayons, etc. We don’t talk with them. It is preferable to be in the church service because being taken out means total boredom.